In the book, you argue that elites introduced mass education as a way to control and discipline lower-class children. How was this done, and why was it seen as necessary?

Mass education was really crafted as a clever system to instill obedience to the state and its laws. Schools used rewards and punishments to enforce rules, moral education dominated the curriculum and even basic reading and writing exercises taught compliance, like when students were asked to spell words like “duty” and “order.”

School routines—following schedules, marching in lines, asking permission—all reinforced discipline. The entire system, from teacher training to school inspections, aimed to create citizens who wouldn’t question authority or disrupt the status quo.

Governments saw schools as essential to maintaining internal security, viewing primary education less as a means to reduce poverty or promote industrialization than as a way to prevent social disorder.